1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a strain relief apparatus and, more particularly, to a strain relief apparatus for a probe and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus refers to a non-invasive apparatus that irradiates an ultrasound signal from a surface of a patient body towards a target internal organ beneath the body surface and obtains an image of a monolayer or blood flow in soft tissue from information in the reflected ultrasound signal (ultrasound echo-signal). The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus has been widely used for diagnosis of the heart, the abdomen, the urinary organs, and in obstetrics and gynecology due to various merits thereof such as small size, low price, real-time image display, and high stability through elimination of radiation exposure, as compared with other image diagnostic systems, such as X-ray diagnostic systems, computerized tomography scanners (CT scanners), magnetic resonance imagers (MRIs), nuclear medicine diagnostic apparatuses, and the like.
Particularly, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes a probe which transmits an ultrasound signal to a target and receives the ultrasound echo-signal reflected therefrom to obtain an ultrasound internal image of the target.
The probe includes a transducer. The transducer transmits an ultrasound signal to the target and receives the ultrasound echo-signal reflected therefrom using a piezoelectric layer in which a piezoelectric material converts electrical signals into sound signals or vice versa through vibration thereof.
When using the apparatus for ultrasound diagnosis of a target, an operator moves or rotates the probe with one hand while keeping the probe in contact with a surface of the target to obtain an ultrasound image of the target.
A cable is connected to the rear side of the probe. The probe is connected to a main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus via a cable that is connected to the main body of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.
The cable connecting the probe to the main body of the apparatus is connected to a printed circuit board (PCB), which is connected to the transducer, through a case of the probe, and is bonded to the case at a contact point with the case by an adhesive or the like, so that the cable is provided to the probe.
It should be noted that the above description is provided for understanding of the background of the invention and is not a description of a conventional technique well-known in the art.
The cable provided to the probe is likely to be bent during the movement or use of the probe. Then, the bending of the cable may cause a force at the contact point between the cable and the case, and may break the cable. Therefore, there is a need to solve such a problem.